advertisement
California and 15 other states filed a lawsuit on Monday, 18 February, against President Donald Trump's emergency declaration to fund a wall on the US-Mexico border.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra released a statement on Monday saying the suit alleges the Trump administration's action violates the Constitution.
"President Trump treats the rule of law with utter contempt," Becerra said. "He knows there is no border crisis, he knows his emergency declaration is unwarranted, and he admits that he will likely lose this case in court."
Joining California in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Virginia. All the states involved in the lawsuit have Democratic attorneys general.
Trump declared a national emergency to fulfil his promise of completing the wall.
The states say diversion of military funding to wall-building will hurt their economies and deprive their military bases of needed upgrades. They say taking away funds from counter-drug efforts for the wall will also cause damage.
California and New Mexico, the two Mexican border states in the lawsuit, say the wall will harm wildlife.
"President Trump is manufacturing a crisis and declaring a made-up 'national emergency' in order to seize power and undermine the Constitution," said California Governor Gavin Newsom in a statement. "This 'emergency' is a national disgrace."
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)